1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to folding chairs and in particular to a folding chair with integral transportation tube.
2. Background
The outdoor chair industry is rapidly expanding due to America's increasing desire to be outdoors. Surveys have shown that more and more people are relocating to the nation's sunbelt regions and consequently are spending more time at beaches and other recreational areas.
Research has indicated that consumers' most frequent complaints are that beach chairs are cumbersome, not easily transportable and that they only last one season. These complaints stem from two major design flaws of the currently available outdoor folding chairs: 1. they are heavy, bulky and not designed with ease of carrying in mind, and 2. they are not constructed with materials which are capable of withstanding the rigors of sun and salt air.
The folding chair transportation problem is made worse if the distance to be travelled is great (as is frequently the case in California when carrying beach chairs from the parking lot to a Pacific Ocean beach) and when other supplies such as beach towels, sun block, reading materials, coolers, sun parasols, etc. must also be carried. A light folding chair capable of being carried in a hands-free manner would certainly make life easier.
Other problems associated with currently available folding chairs include the environmentally sensitive issue of the use of excessive packaging in the merchandising of these chairs, the chairs being blown over and the chairs sinking into the sand when occupied.
A few chairs are designed to be carried in storage bags; these bags tend to blow away and get lost when not in use.
Some folding chairs are designed to rest directly on the ground; if the ground is wet the occupant gets wet also.
Another problem of currently available folding chair designs is that the folding chair is sometimes damaged while in transit.